


And the winner is...

by JessKo



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Background Relationships, Competition, Gay Luke Skywalker, Gen, Happy Ending, Humor, Luke and Leia don't know how to flirt, Sibling Rivalry, Skywalker Family Drama
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:55:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24741136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JessKo/pseuds/JessKo
Summary: Luke and Leia were supposed to be teammates for the Battle Robots Competition, but with their competitive natures getting the best of them, the twins have split off to form their own teams. Facing challenging foes at the final competition of the season, will they be able to resist the temptation to cheat to get an upper hand over each other, or make it to the final round at all?
Relationships: Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21
Collections: 2020 Star Wars Summer Fic Exchange





	And the winner is...

**Author's Note:**

  * For [zoryany](https://archiveofourown.org/users/zoryany/gifts).



> A massive thank you to hixystix for the beta!

Luke had to hold Biggs back from throttling their opponent standing across the ring. “Since when are rotating saw blades legal? Huh?” the taller man boomed, shaking his remote controller like a weapon.

“Biggs, there really aren’t any rules...” Luke muttered, looking at the two bisected halves of the battle robot they had worked so hard on over the past year. Lovingly dubbed Threepio, the shining golden droid was supposed to launch Team Sunstrike to victory despite their rookie status, but it seemed that Team Empire had other plans for the duo. Well, they had managed to win the match, but at the sacrifice of their robot, which was pathetically wiggling with the last of its battery’s charge on the padded floor.

“Still! What are we supposed to do, build a new one in the one night before the semi-finals?” Biggs groaned.

The referee, Mr. Palpatine, smiled wryly at the duo, “It can be done, gentlemen. Now, please kindly clear my ring.”

Biggs continued to complain as he loaded the remains of Threepio onto a cart, but Luke’s mind raced with how they could salvage the situation. Upon arrival at their pit, his father’s face melted from a wide grin to a concerned look as he congratulated them on their victory but then saw the price they had paid for it.

“Ah, well, son, we had a good run this year.” Anakin said softly, patting a disgruntled Biggs on the back.

“We’re not done yet.” Luke announced sounding sure of himself. “There’s one more match today, Ghost versus Falcon right? So we’ve got that time, plus all night, and I’m sure we can scrap parts from...” He rambled on, already elbow deep in Threepio to extract anything useful.

Anakin shot a look at his friend Obi Wan who simply nodded. Message received, they would try and make something work for Luke, always so optimistic. It was their first year in their competition, and they’d made it all the way to the National championships, which was quite a feat for a rookie team from the middle of nowhere, so why give up now?

With all that could be saved from Threepio laid out, it was honestly not much. Team Empire had done a real number on him, and many essential electronics had been fried.

“I’m not trying to suggest that Mr. Palpatine is biased, but he really lets the teams from his region get away with a lot of crap.” Biggs huffed, setting down the two halves of their main weapon, an electrical emitter which would zap their opponents into submission. They had been able to disable the Team Empire robot, but had not run away in time to avoid the falling saw blade, still spinning at lethal speed.

“I’ve got the spare lawn mower engine in my truck, and I’m sure some of the other teams can lend us the essentials. I’ll be back with some goodies.” Obi Wan said matter-of-factly, leaving the others to organize what they had and to create a plan of attack.

In his place, however, Luke’s brunette twin sister soon appeared. “Oof, this does not look good,” she teased with a wink.

Luke narrowed his eyes in her direction. “We could really use a hand, Leia.”

“Ah, but I’m not on your team anymore, remember?” she said, sticking her tongue out at her father. Anakin just sighed, remembering the knock-out, drag-down fight that had not only caused his daughter, but also his wife, to jump ship and team up with their neighbor Ahsoka Tano to do things their own way.

“If you are not here to help, go away,” Biggs demanded a little too intensely, earning him a playful swat from the girl. Why he still hung around these two was beyond him, but he figured being inseparable in high school was part of it. So, on break from University, he was along for this wild ride. Part of him wished he’d been able to witness just what caused the schism between the siblings that lead to his recruitment, but he hoped that after this competition they’d be able to make amends because currently they were insufferable together.

“Whatever, flyboy.” She said before slipping away.

“That was one time!” Biggs grunted, sitting back to take stock of it all again.

Luke elbowed him, sour mood already gone. “Yeah one time you went flying all the way across the yard and into the pool trying to home make an airplane out of cardboard and a bicycle.”

“I was eleven. That’s normal eleven year old stuff, no?”

“It is, but it does not mean we don’t get to still tease you over it, flyboy.” Anakin added with a soft grin. “Now come on, let’s get rid of the broken stuff so we can start fresh.

After a bit more time, Obi Wan returned with the spoils of his journey. “One lawn mower, and some assorted parts courtesy of teams X-Force and Queens.”

“You’re telling me Leia actually let you take parts?” Luke asked, excited by the large bounty.

“Well, she wasn’t there at the moment, nor was Padme, so I suppose it is a gift from Ahsoka.” Obi Wan explained, earning a laugh from the group who dove back into their work uninterrupted for some time.

Then, Anakin left to fetch news for tomorrow. “Tell me something good, dad.” Luke nearly whined from under their new chassis as Anakin came back with the fight schedule for the next day.

“Well, the good news is that we will be in the second semi final match, not the first. The bad news is our competition: X-Force.”

Biggs threw up his arms in frustration. “Great, the only robot in the competition that can fly!”

“Guess we’ll have to start building up our aerial defenses, huh?” Luke offered. With a collective groan, the team got back to work.

* * *

The next day found Team Sunstrike with a battle robot with a silver and blue dome protecting it from above, small openings allowing for probing arms to poke out to grasp at the competition. Hooked ends would be the basis of their strategy, latching onto the lighter robot and whipping it around into the walls of the ring, or do anything to beat it into submission.

When it was time, Luke walked nervously in front of their cart, Biggs and Anakin pushing it along. If they won this match, their competition would be the Queens, having beat the Falcon in a record setting forty five second match. Secretly, Luke was glad to see Leia off to the side talking with the Falcon’s driver team of Han and Lando, and thus not watching this match.

A match that would certainly be interesting, the reigning champions versus a rookie team with a robot they rebuilt in one night. They’d hardly been able to test it and there was a good chance the new robot would not even function properly. It had been named Artoo after the scrambled numbers and letters on their Frankenstein’d dome built from whatever they could find spelling out R2-D2 along one of the seams. 

However, rather than checking out the opposing robot, Luke was looking at another aspect of the competition.

“Looks pretty good, huh?” Biggs commented.

“Yeah, real nice.” Luke replied airily.

Biggs followed Luke’s line of sight as he caught up with him. “You’re not looking at their robot, are you?” he said, mussing up the shorter man’s hair. “Ogle later, I need this head in the game if we’re going to make this scrap heap work!”

_ Bleeeep! _

Anakin chuckled when both boys jumped, having triggered an offended sounding noise from their robot. “Both of you, time to set up. No matter what happens, I’m proud of you both, but...” Anakin nodded to the rather sparse, x-shaped robot they would be facing, “If that little PVC monstrosity is able to break this hunk of metal I am going to be contesting the results.”

As Biggs and Anakin wrangled the large, almost beetle-like robot down into the ring, Luke could not help but take one more look at their competition, a blonde and a brunette both dressed in ridiculous orange jumpsuits to fit some kind of theme but still managing to be far too attractive in safety goggles.

“Good luck, Sunstrike!” The blonde called over with a broad smile. Luke knew he’d be caught, but he stared anyways and when the other man made eye contact with him, he thought he might faint, warm brown eyes under a thick brow making his heart do flips as they crinkled at the corners when he returned a gentle grin.

“You too.” Luke replied feebly, a hand on his shoulder grounding him as Anakin turned him around.

“You alright? You look pale.”

“Yeah, I’m fine, just didn’t realize the competition would be so... intimidating.”

“Hot. He means hot.” Biggs corrected smugly.

Anakin just rolled his eyes. “You’re both adults, act like them and get phone numbers after the match, alright.”

Luke nodded, shaking out the image of their opposition from his head and getting into the zone. It was common knowledge that he was the best rookie driver in the league, and even with a brand-new robot he was ready to show it off. Who knew, maybe impressing them could lead to that phone number.

Two minutes and a whole lot of stress later, a trembling Artoo came out victorious as X-Force’s own robot laid upside down and disabled on the floor. Luke stood there stunned for a moment as Biggs surrounded him in a celebratory hug. “We actually did it Luke, holy shit we’re going to the finals!”

Anakin, almost stunned but incredibly proud, came running up behind them once all robots were powered down and it was safe to approach. “Congratulations you two, certainly worked hard for it! I didn’t doubt you for a moment!”

“Sure,” Biggs said with a roll of his eyes, “like I believe that for a second.”

“Well, you did win.”

Luke exhaled a breath he didn’t realize he held in, laughing as he exclaimed. “We won. Biggs we won! Oh no, we won.”

“What do you mean oh no? Oh yeah is more like it!”

As Luke tensed suddenly, Biggs realized what was the matter when the two drivers, or pilots really seeing that their robot barely touched the ground and didn’t even have wheels, from X-Force approached. “Good job guys.” The blonde said, offering a hand.

Biggs took it first as Luke hesitated. “You fought hard, that’s for sure. Gave us a real scare there halfway through when you dropped some debris in and jammed two of our arms.”

“Well, all’s fair in war, is it not? Either way you managed to pull through. The name’s Hobbie by the way.”

“Pleased to meet you, Hobbie. I’m Biggs and this is...”

Luke interrupted, regaining his senses, “Luke. I’m Luke. Hi.”

“Hi Luke.” The other man offered his hand, seeing Biggs and Hobbie were still locked in a rather excessive shake. “I’m Wedge.”

“Hi.”

Somehow, those two managed to hold on longer than Biggs and Hobbie, and the long-suffering friends exchanged a knowing glance. “Just trade numbers already. We need to get back into the pit and fix Artoo up. Get those arms back in order.”

“We can help.” Wedge offered quickly, not releasing Luke’s hand still. “If you want us to, I mean.”

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

So, as Teams Sunstrike and X-Force got busy, Leia and Ahsoka put their heads together to create a whole new strategy for winning the final.

“I hate to admit it, but that monstrosity they put together in less than a day is better than their original design.” Leia huffed.

Ahsoka agreed, “And the original was already going to be difficult to beat.” She didn’t mention that she was likely a large reason why Sunstrike was in as good a position as they were, and was lucky Leia had not opened the spare parts bin yet.

The required repairs after their match up with The Falcon were minimal, so Ahsoka had handled them on her own as Leia went off to talk, no, flirt with Han and Lando. It was no secret that she’d fancied a certain member of that team, having purposely signed up for the division finals that The Falcon would be competing in once Leia had left Sunstrike to avoid her brother. Ahsoka didn’t mind, it was an excuse for a road trip with her best friend after all. And her mom always brought the best picnic lunches for them.

“Ahsoka, you saw what we are up against.” Said mom, Padme, spoke softly, but in a way that commanded their attention. She just had that sort of gift with words. “Why don’t you go grab my daughter so we can begin working in earnest.”

With a short nod, Ahsoka bolted off and returned with three people instead of one. “Han and Lando said they’d like to help.” Leia announced, jabbing Han in the ribs when he opened his mouth to protest.

“Well, seeing they are not in the competition anymore, I suppose it’s alright,” Padme agreed. “Let’s get started.”

Han turned out to be anything but helpful, constantly distracting Leia with sarcastic jabs that just egged the hotheaded girl on. The irony of it all, though, was that anyone could see that they genuinely liked each other, maybe more than just friends even.

Luckily for Ahsoka, Lando was more willing to pull some weight and had a few creative ideas on how they could counter Sunstrike’s abomination of a robot. “It won’t be pretty, but if we can snag all their hooks with break-off bits, maybe even ring lures, they’ll be useless outside of being a big battering ram,” he offered.

“Yeah, it was a good design for taking down X-Force, but it's not versatile enough. We’ll be able to beat them easy,” she responded, prying back a protective panel to make some tune ups to the drive train. “You two really did a number on us, it was a good match,” Ahsoka added, realigning chains and tightening motor mounts.

“You know we could not give up without a fight,” Lando joked in return.

“And a fight you gave us. That little drill bit attachment isn’t entirely legal, is it?” Leia accused.

Han laughed a bit nervously. “Drill? What drill? You’re imagining things.”

Leia narrowed her eyes at the man. “I know what I saw.”

“And I know what I see, and it’s a busted robot. Come on Leia, we need to finish this if we want to, you know, be able to drive in a straight line?” Ahsoka pressed.

Not missing a beat, Leia dove back into the repair work without letting up on Han, setting the tone for the rest of the time before the final battle.

The next and final match came far too quickly, Mr. Palpatine announcing for Teams Sunstrike and the Queens to bring their bots down to the ring.

As the pairs set up, the tension was palpable between them, especially between brother and sister. “Now, remember it’s a great accomplishment to make it this far, so be proud no matter the outcome. Good luck to you both.” Padme said to the teams with a beaming smile.

“Yeah, we’re going to win so don’t worry.” Leia announced, to which Luke blew her a big raspberry. Anakin kept his mouth shut, not admonishing either of his children for being rude. Padme glared at her husband, not wanting to cause a scene but disappointed.

Then, the match began and all hell broke loose. It all started well enough, then one of the panels of Artoo fell off and not from any sort of real forceful blow. The drive team, nor the referee, could not see what had happened, but Anakin certainly did.

“Hey! Drills are illegal!” He shouted, raising his arms. Padme grabbed them and pinned them back down to his sides with a shushing noise.

“Don’t distract them, Ani!”

Now it was his turn to glare. “You let them cheat, didn’t you?”

Padme didn’t respond right away, just humming to herself.

Anakin fumed. “What the hell, Padme? I know the kids are having a little spat right now, but after this we all have to go home together and be a family again.”

Padme hummed again, obviously holding something back.

“Do not give me that look. What are you thinking?”

“Oh, it’s just that last I checked, robots had to be weighed and inspected after any major alterations.”

Anakin wasn’t sure where the smaller woman was going with this. “Yeah, so?”

“I believe a complete rebuild counts as a major alteration, and that dome alone looks like it hits the weight limit.” Padme replied with a delicate smirk.

Anakin froze, accusatory finger stopped halfway up to its intended pointing stance. “Uh... If you don’t say anything neither will I.”

“I can agree with that.”

Unfortunately, the kids were not in on the deal. At the end of the match with the results being contested as both robots were disabled seemingly simultaneously, accusations were slung from both sides.

“They’ve got an illegal part!”

“Their robot wasn’t inspected!”

With a grin that was less than kind appearing, Palpatine silenced both teams with a simple, “The judges will review the match now, you may leave.”

They teams left, only to get into a screaming match outside of the building.

“Should we let them get it out of their systems?” Anakin asked, observing the fight through a large window.

Beside him, Padme almost agreed, then she noticed her daughter balling a fist. “No, come on. We should step in.”

Stepping outside, both parents were bombarded with pleas for punishment from either side of the argument, both culminating in a simple, united cry of, “But they cheated the most!”

Moving to stand in between the opposing duos, Padme and Anakin gave looks that immediately silenced their kids and their teammates. “That is enough of that.” Padme demanded more than suggested. “We have all done things we are not proud of, and it is likely that the championship will be defaulted down to another team within legal game parameters.”

Angry faces quickly deflated into glum ones.

“No, it’s not possible.” Luke muttered. “We’re supposed to win!”

Biggs patted his friend on the shoulder. “Hate to admit it, but your mom’s probably right.”

Leia, meanwhile, kicked up some gravel, swearing under her breath.

“Sorry, kiddos. Maybe next year we’ll do better, and play fair.” Anakin added, crossing his arms trying to keep a stern tone. The more he thought about it, the more ridiculous this whole debacle seemed.

Then, Obi Wan practically appeared out of thin air with a clipboard. “As it seems you have all figured out, the trophy was defaulted down to X-Force, and now everyone is packing up. Teams Sunstrike and The Queens have been suspended for three years for cheating.”

Now Padme clenched her hands into fists. “Three years? Isn’t that a little excessive?”

Obi Wan shrugged. “Sheev wanted a lifetime ban on the four of them since they are not children, but I suggested that was too harsh and talked him down to just the team suspension.” A glint in his eye suggested there was more at play here than what was seen at the surface.

Ahsoka caught on quickly. “So, a new team would be able to compete.”

“Precisely, just needs to not be the current team compositions.”

“So, I’d have to work with Biggs.” The look on Leia’s face said she was not too excited about this prospect.

“Not necessarily.” Anakin stepped in, not wanting any more arguments to flare up as Biggs prepared some sort of retort. “You could make amends with your brother seeing how well you work together when not fighting over petty things.”

Leia scoffed, but Ahsoka stepped in before she could retort. “Your dad has a point, the two of you had something really special going before... You know. The split.”

“Well, we split up for a reason,” Luke whined. 

“A stupid reason. Now, we need to go pack up our things, and on the drive home you two are going to talk it all out. Ahsoka, Biggs, you guys comfortable driving home after all that happened today?” Anakin asked, checking in on the older teammates.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Ahsoka assured him.

“I’ve got to stop and visit my uncle on the way home either way, but I’m doing ok,” Biggs replied.

“Good. Now then, let’s start breaking it all down.”

Both Luke and Leia were sad to see the other teams had already left, having used the time before the final round to clean up their own stations and pack their things. For the obvious reason, of course, but Luke also just wished he could have been there when X-Force were given their proper honors to cheer on his new friends, and Leia felt a bit odd about not being able to say any goodbyes to the team who’d helped her prepare for the last fight, even if their methods were less than legal. But they didn’t have too much time to dwell on this as the work ahead was monumental in size. In their rush to prepare for the last match, they’d let their work areas become utter disasters with screws all over the floor and big knotted bundles of wires littering all available table space.

Needing a collective break, Anakin and Padme excused themselves much to the protest of the kids. “Call us when you are ready to load it up in the U-Haul,” Anakin called over his shoulder, squeezing his wife’s hand in his own. “We’re going to go get some lunch.”

Rather than just getting takeout, though, the pair sat down for a well-deserved hot meal of soup and sandwiches at a nearby diner. “I hope they can work it out before the car ride,” Padme added, referring to the earlier conversation.

“I think they will, without all those other distractions walking around the building, and both knowing their fight was ultimately their downfall,” Anakin offered, taking a large bite of his sandwich to punctuate his point.

“I suppose. It still has not been a fun couple of months for any of us. I’ve missed you, Ani.” She reached across the table, patting Anakin on the top of his hand. His real hand, the prosthetic hard at work holding his meal in a bit too tight of a grasp.

“We were pretty stupid there for a while too, huh.” Anakin sighed. “Almost wish they would have gotten that lifetime ban so we can just walk away from this thing. Too much drama. I can’t believe we let it get to us so much.”

“Yes, well, perhaps we can all grow closer in the aftermath.”

“I hope so. And I hope the kids can get along again. I never thought I’d say this but I wish they could be here with us right now, not fighting just talking.”

Padme laughed, knowing how much Anakin cherished the time he got to spend alone with just her. With both of their jobs pulling them in so many directions, it was rare to just be together and they had squandered so much time over this bickering. Padme loved her work, advocating for human rights around the world, and Anakin was one of the most successful private investigators in the city, but their passions meant lots of long trips away. “Let’s hope you are right about them making amends before the drive home, because then you will get your wish.”

* * *

“Ah shoot! I didn’t even get his number!” Luke grumbled in the back of the car.

“Whose number?” Padme asked, curious as to what her son had been up to during the competition and feeling a little bit guilty about it all still. This was supposed to be a family endeavor after all, but it only served to divide them all for quite some time. She was just glad that the back seat seemed to not be a warzone as it had been on the drive up in the first place.

Luke blushed, looking out the window. “No one’s.”

Anakin gave Padme a look that told his wife it was certainly someone. He was also relieved that he didn’t have to break up anything so far into the drive. It had only been an hour, but so far so good, he was hopeful. “Sorry to hear Luke. You and your sister will see them show up in a few months for the pre-season heats.”

“Maybe,” Luke muttered, wishing he’d not said anything. Both parents smiled, Luke had not insisted on not being with Leia for that event. It was progress.

“Here,” Leia said, pushing a folded-up document into Luke’s lap. “It’s the team registration sheets.”

“Leia, I do not want to know how you got your hands on that,” Anakin began, Padme finishing the sentiment.

“Once Luke has what he needs, we’ll be taking that.” They decided to just let it go though, their kids were getting along and that’s what mattered.


End file.
